Stuck in FancyCaptcha challenge loop on VisualEditor
Closed, ResolvedPublicBUG REPORT
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	dom_walden
	Tue, May 19, 1:31 PM

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Referenced Files

	F82674715: image.png
	Tue, May 19, 4:30 PM

	F82643385: fancycaptcha_loop.webm
	Tue, May 19, 1:31 PM

Subscribers

Description

What is the problem?

On testwiki on desktop VE, when I attempt to publish I am sometimes met with a FancyCaptcha challenge and, after completing successfully, I see another (and another and so on).

Sometimes I also see an hCaptcha challenge that I have to complete before I see the FancyCaptcha challenge.

I have seen it happen both when triggering AbuseFilter and when not.

I just started to see this at about 1300 UTC today.

Only on desktop VE, not any other interface (although I haven't tried DiscussionTools).

Steps to reproduce problem

https://test.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Switch to desktop (if not already)
Open VisualEditor
Make an edit (you may need to trigger AbuseFilter by typing showcaptcha in the edit summary)
Attempt to publish

Environment

Browser: Chrome 72. Chromium 147.
Wiki(s): https://test.wikipedia.org MediaWiki 1.47.0-wmf.3 (rMW00ca1f659833) 01:09, 19 May 2026.
Editor: VisualEditor – (a7f2cdb) 00:58, 19 May 2026.

Screenshots

Details

Related Changes in Gerrit:

	Subject	Repo	Branch	Lines +/-
	Revert "ApiEditPage: Update request in main context before calling attemptSave()"	mediawiki/core	master	+1 -4
	Revert "ApiEditPage: Update request in main context before calling attemptSave()"	mediawiki/core	wmf/1.47.0-wmf.3	+1 -4

Customize query in gerrit

Related Objects

Mentioned In: T427105: Update hCaptcha code in mediawiki-config to no longer depend on the action parameter of the main context request
T426894: Fix discrepancy between $wgRequest and the main context request in ApiEditPage
T426539: "review pending changes" checkbox to the edit form not working when using VisualEditor
T426854: VisualEditor: destroy hCaptcha widget when server returns FancyCaptcha challenge
Mentioned Here: rECHU12899385d451: Update patch set 5
rEVEDa7f2cdb3c5f4: Mobile: display 'view suggestions' button for other sections
rMW00ca1f659833: Branch commit for wmf/1.47.0-wmf.3

Event Timeline

dom_walden created this task.Tue, May 19, 1:31 PM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: Aklapper. · View Herald TranscriptTue, May 19, 1:31 PM

dom_walden updated the task description. (Show Details)Tue, May 19, 1:32 PM

dom_walden added projects: Product Safety and Integrity (Sprint lily-of-the-valley (May 4 - May 22)), hCaptcha, Bot detection and mitigation (WE4.10 hCaptcha), ConfirmEdit (CAPTCHA extension), VisualEditor.

I can reproduce this too:

The above suggests that this isn't specific to VisualEditor but is the server deciding to serve a FancyCaptcha

Therefore, this probably will affect more than just VisualEditor and probably needs to be investigated soon. I am going AFK now so can't look into this further

MPostoronca-WMF claimed this task.Wed, May 20, 7:42 AM

MPostoronca-WMF moved this task from Ready to In progress on the Product Safety and Integrity (Sprint lily-of-the-valley (May 4 - May 22)) board.

Change #1289937 had a related patch set uploaded (by Dreamy Jazz; author: Dreamy Jazz):

[mediawiki/core@master] Revert "ApiEditPage: Update request in main context before calling attemptSave()"

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1289937

gerritbot added a project: Patch-For-Review.Wed, May 20, 12:01 PM

Change #1289938 had a related patch set uploaded (by Kosta Harlan; author: Dreamy Jazz):

[mediawiki/core@wmf/1.47.0-wmf.3] Revert "ApiEditPage: Update request in main context before calling attemptSave()"

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1289938

Change #1289937 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/core@master] Revert "ApiEditPage: Update request in main context before calling attemptSave()"

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1289937

Change #1289938 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/core@wmf/1.47.0-wmf.3] Revert "ApiEditPage: Update request in main context before calling attemptSave()"

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1289938

Mentioned in SAL (#wikimedia-operations) [2026-05-20T12:17:48Z] <kharlan@deploy1003> Started scap sync-world: Backport for [[gerrit:1289938|Revert "ApiEditPage: Update request in main context before calling attemptSave()" (T426751)]]

Mentioned in SAL (#wikimedia-operations) [2026-05-20T12:19:42Z] <kharlan@deploy1003> kharlan: Backport for [[gerrit:1289938|Revert "ApiEditPage: Update request in main context before calling attemptSave()" (T426751)]] synced to the testservers (see https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mwdebug). Changes can now be verified there.

@dom_walden can you please try to reproduce this issue again?

Mentioned in SAL (#wikimedia-operations) [2026-05-20T12:26:25Z] <kharlan@deploy1003> Finished scap sync-world: Backport for [[gerrit:1289938|Revert "ApiEditPage: Update request in main context before calling attemptSave()" (T426751)]] (duration: 08m 37s)

Maintenance_bot removed a project: Patch-For-Review.Wed, May 20, 12:34 PM

MPostoronca-WMF mentioned this in T426854: VisualEditor: destroy hCaptcha widget when server returns FancyCaptcha challenge.Wed, May 20, 1:19 PM

ReleaseTaggerBot added a project: MW-1.47-notes (1.47.0-wmf.3; 2026-05-19).Wed, May 20, 2:01 PM

kostajh moved this task from In progress to QA in Prod on the Product Safety and Integrity (Sprint lily-of-the-valley (May 4 - May 22)) board.Wed, May 20, 3:47 PM

In T426751#11940391, @kostajh wrote:

@dom_walden can you please try to reproduce this issue again?

I can no longer reproduce on testwiki. I have tried making normal edits which trigger the hCaptcha challenge and those which trigger AF (including seeing the hCaptcha challenge twice). I can complete the challenge(s) and save the edit.

In T426751#11941573, @dom_walden wrote:

In T426751#11940391, @kostajh wrote:

@dom_walden can you please try to reproduce this issue again?

I can no longer reproduce on testwiki. I have tried making normal edits which trigger the hCaptcha challenge and those which trigger AF (including seeing the hCaptcha challenge twice). I can complete the challenge(s) and save the edit.